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Mason Bees are here!

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T O P I C R E V I E W
Red Tractor Girl	Posted - May 19 2014 : 5:01:16 PM Mary Jane posted about Mason Bees on her RaisinJane blog a few months ago and it caught my attention. Mason bees pollinate flowers, garden, and orchards but they do not produce honey. So, I went to CrownBees.com and read all about them and just had to try raising some myself. They arrived on Saturday and when I got home on Sunday, I dove into the box and looked at all of the parts of my starter's kit. Here is what I found and put together today; The BeeBungalo House looks like a long birdhouse with 3 sides. Per instructions, it is located on the East side of the house which gets some morning sun and protection of the overhang of the house. The bees are sent in cocoons which have to hatch. Now that the temps are warm enough, they bees will hatch in their little BeeGuardian Bag. This is a fine mesh bag with a velcro closure that allows the cocoons to be safe from would be parasitic wasps, birds and other predators. When the first one hatches, I am supposed to take them out of the BeeGuardian bag, place them in the back of their house and put their nesting structure in front of them. As they hatch, the crawl out the back hole of the house, fly off and come back to nest and eventually lay their eggs in these long tubes. Pretty cool, Eh? I have placed the BeeGuardian in the house for the hatching period of 23 days to 4 weeks. I will keep you posted on how it all works out. This is very exciting and I hope to have my own swarm of bees for my flowers and neighborhood this summer. In Florida, the bees that live here are called Summer Leafcutter Bees. Stay tuned for more Bee News! Winnie #3109
19 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First)
PinkCsmtlgy	Posted - Jul 01 2014 : 6:41:57 PM That is so cool, I hope they come back over the summer.
Calicogirl	Posted - Jul 01 2014 : 05:56:47 AM This is exciting Winnie, thanks so much for sharing :)I love hearing about your adventures and the excitement of seeing life. Farmgirl Sister #5392 By His Grace, For His Glory ~Sharon http://amerryheartjournal.blogspot.com/
Red Tractor Girl	Posted - Jun 25 2014 : 10:32:20 AM Bee update! This morning I opened up the BeeHouse again, took out the housing piece and let the sunbeam shine in. Yep, suddenly several pairs of antennae popped up and little bees crawled over the empty cocoons to the house edge, flapped their wings and took off. It was so fun to watch. I then took out the rest of the cocoons, removed the old ones, and found several newly hatched bees. At this stage, they are solid black, and barely moving their legs. After several more days, they are upright, antennae up, yellow with black stripes and fluttering their wings when they orient to the sunbeam. I could tell that several other cocoons are ready to hatch as you can see the back end of the bee starting to move out of the cocoon. Everything was carefully placed back the way it was and I will open it again on Sunday or Monday to see the progress. So, since June 12, which was 24 days after the cocoons were first placed outside to hatch, over half of them are hatched and more keep coming everyday. It has taken 11 more days and if this schedule continues, they should all be hatched by July 14 or so. I am anxious to see how they come back to the house over the summer! Stay tuned for more BeeNews from Red Tractor Girl's "My Tiny Farm"! See the last of my green beans I got ? By the way, how many of you remember "My Tiny Farm" from 2012?? Winnie #3109
mrssarahhall	Posted - Jun 25 2014 : 06:40:41 AM Wow, Winnie, that is so cool! Thanks for posting photos! We have mason bees that nest in a section of our fence that is large bamboo pieces, They like to nest in the hollow at the top. So cool! I have never seen a mason bee house like the one you got, I am intrigued! :) Sarah Farmgirl # 5223 "For beautiful eyes, look for the good in others; for beautiful lips, speak only words of kindness; and for poise, walk with the knowledge that you are never alone." - Audrey Hepburn All good things are wild and free- Henry David Thoreau
nndairy	Posted - Jun 24 2014 : 08:34:16 AM Thanks for the update! This is a fun project to follow. :) Heather Farmgirl Sister #4701 http://nndairy.blogspot.com/
Killarney	Posted - Jun 20 2014 : 12:10:04 PM SO exciting Winnie!!! Connie Imagine....#3392
Red Tractor Girl	Posted - Jun 20 2014 : 12:08:06 PM Today, I took out the Mason Bee housing block to check on the cocoon progress. Well, I was greeted by 5 little bees all ready to leave. I turned the house so that the sun shone inside, the bees oriented to the sun and took off. Not the little bee at the right hand side of the photo getting ready to fly away! Boy, they were quick to fly out once they saw that sunlight. The little darlins'!!!! More cocoons yet to hatch but I think we are on a roll now. I am so happy to actually see them big enough to fly. The new hatchlings are so tiny and you don't see the yellow bands or fuzz on their bodies. I think they come out of the cocoon, stay inside until they get bigger maybe living off something already stored in their bodies or some part of the cocoon until they get much bigger. There was a tiny little black bee inside the cocoon area this morning which I have seen before and is what my first bee looked like. If you watch them for a few minutes, you will see one leg or another make a tiny movement. This project is so fun to watch unfold. I am looking forward to seeing how they come back to the BeeHouse and finally create cocoons before they die. Stay tuned for more BeeNews! Winnie #3109
Calicogirl	Posted - Jun 17 2014 : 3:34:24 PM This is so neat Winnie! How exciting. I love hearing the progress. Thanks so much for sharing! Farmgirl Sister #5392 By His Grace, For His Glory ~Sharon http://amerryheartjournal.blogspot.com/
Ninibini	Posted - Jun 16 2014 : 3:33:14 PM Winnie! This is so awesome! I've never seen how Mason bees are shipped or raised before! I'm so excited for you - CONGRATULATIONS! Looking forward to following you on this journey! Thank you so much for sharing! SO cool! Hugs - Nini Farmgirl Sister #1974 God gave us two hands... one to help ourselves, and one to help others!
Red Tractor Girl	Posted - Jun 16 2014 : 3:09:37 PM I checked yesterday and there were 7 more empty cocoons but still lots left to hatch. I just hope they all hatch so that I will have a nice batch of bees to watch. More Bee News as it happens! Winnie #3109
wooliespinner	Posted - Jun 16 2014 : 09:44:08 AM Winnie thats is too cool. I am glad their starting to hatch for you. Hopefully more will hatch and they will get estabished before you know it. Linda Raspberry Run Farm Nubian Dairy Goats
Red Tractor Girl	Posted - Jun 12 2014 : 1:04:32 PM I am so happy to report that my FIRST Mason Bee hatched today from the cocoon!! I am so excited!! I was amazed at how tiny it actually was and almost didn't notice it. From the day the cocoons were placed in their BeeGuardian hatching bag to the first born was 24 days. So, per kit instructions, the rest of the cocoons were placed in the back of the BeeHouse behind the nesting tube structure so the remaining can hatch and fly out of the small hole in the back of the BeeHouse. Pretty cool!! I hope the rest hatch properly so that I can watch them coming and going this summer. Stay tuned for more Bee News! Winnie #3109
wooliespinner	Posted - May 30 2014 : 1:40:58 PM We have several mason bee houses and they are going to town. We have had them for about 8 years now and we find them fascinating. We ordered the mason bee houses from Gardners supply. They do really pollinate and are cute little guys.Good luck and I hope they all hatch for you. Linda Raspberry Run Farm Nubian Dairy Goats
Red Tractor Girl	Posted - May 26 2014 : 04:51:27 AM How fun , Connie!! I can't wait to hear all about how your bees do. So far, my cocoons haven't changed in their BeeGuardian pouch. I know they say it takes 4 weeks or so but I keep checking every other day just in case my bees are precocious!! LOL!!! Winnie#3109
Killarney	Posted - May 25 2014 : 5:57:45 PM I have mine ordered! Connie Imagine....#3392
Madinet85	Posted - May 25 2014 : 3:58:50 PM Very cool! I can't wait to see how it turns out! Farmgirl Sister #4915
Bear5	Posted - May 21 2014 : 2:45:15 PM Very interesting Winnie! I look forward to hearing and seeing more. Thanks for sharing. Marly "It's only when we truly know and understand that we have a limited time on earth- and that we have no way of knowing when our time is up- that we will begin to live each day to the fullest, as if it was the only one we had." Elisabeth Kurler-Ross
Killarney	Posted - May 21 2014 : 10:49:11 AM Winnie, awesome!!! our bees are so important to our survival!!! Connie Imagine....#3392
nndairy	Posted - May 20 2014 : 10:15:22 AM Way cool! Thanks for sharing this with us. I look forward to seeing how it works for you. Heather Farmgirl Sister #4701 http://nndairy.blogspot.com/

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